The Lion's Gauntlet
by Aria Breuer
Summary: The Lion's Gauntlet: a silver gauntlet made from the purest metal seen in the Shire. A prisoner kept the Lion's Gauntlet a secret from everyone, except himself. This prisoner was locked away in the Lockholes of Michel Delving, never to be seen or heard from again. Sequel to 'Ten Years Later'.
1. The Prisoner of the Lockholes

**Disclaimers:** I do not own _The Lord of the Rings_. They belong to J.R.R. Tolkien. The Musketeers belong to history, and from Alexandre Dumas' book series about the Musketeers.

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Welcome to the final part of my fanfiction trilogy, _Frodo and the Musketeers_. :') While this fanfiction trilogy had a rough start, what with me deleting it the first time on AO3, it came back with a vengeance and is really something I enjoy writing about. :)

This fanfiction story is inspired by Alexandre Dumas' book, _The Man in the Iron Mask_. Enjoy. :)

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 _X-X-X_

 _The Lion's Gauntlet: a silver gauntlet made from the purest metal seen in the Shire. A prisoner kept the Lion's Gauntlet a secret from everyone, except himself. This prisoner was locked away in the Lockholes of Michel Delving, never to be seen or heard from again._

 _X-X-X_

The last thing Haddon wanted was to be a prisoner of the Lockholes. And yet, here he was, spending time in the Lockholes for who knew how long. His white shirt was stained and dirty, while his breeches were tattered. Even his curly, light brown hair had grown longer, now nearly close to the middle of his back. This made sense since he'd been trapped in the deepest tunnel for a long time.

Oh, if only he could get out of here! That would be blissful—

The cell door opened, allowing him to see the light once again. There was Will Whitfoot, a portly hobbit dressed in his best clothes. As usual, Will had a smile on his face. What was he expecting? The Lion's Gauntlet?

Haddon knew where he put the Lion's Gauntlet, but the last thing he wanted to do was tell Will the truth about where he hid it. Why would he tell him where it was? This made no sense! Was Will going to use the gauntlet for something?

No. The gauntlet was too valuable for any man to have. Haddon would ensure that no one came near the gauntlet.

Will shrugged. Why did he shrug? What did this hobbit man want?

"I don't know where the gauntlet is! If I knew, then I would tell you!" Haddon cried in annoyance.

Will waved his hand. "No, no, no. You see. There's someone here who is willing to get that information from you."

"Humph." Haddon folded his arms. "Well, you won't get anything out of me. That's for sure!"

"Oh, I think you will be reasonable," Will said, kindly. "I don't mean to throw you in this cell. It's been two weeks since we locked you in here. No more of that!" He turned to the cell door, announcing, "Frodo, will you come in here?"

"Frodo? As in Frodo Baggins?" Haddon stared in shock. Oh no! He could leak any information he wanted, just by meeting Frodo. Seriously! What was it about that hobbit that always caused him to spill secrets? He was in trouble now.

"How long has he been in here?" Frodo's voice rang out from outside the cell door.

"He's been in here for two weeks! We were trying to find this gauntlet. The Lion's Gauntlet! It's very valuable! The Mathom House could use it!" Will complained.

"You should have let him speak to me about this, before you threw him in here," Frodo said, entering the cell a moment later, approaching the poor imprisoned hobbit with a kind look in his eyes.

Frodo had soft, thick, curly, brown hair, as well as fair facial features, short pointy ears, lighter-than-usual skin, due to the Fallohide blood on his mother's side, and bright blue eyes. He wore a brown vest, a pair of brown knee breeches, a white dress shirt, and a bluish-grey cloak. Haddon didn't know what it was about this hobbit that made him want to talk. He just knew he was in trouble. _Big_ trouble! And everyone, in the Shire, would know it.

"I won't tell you anything," Haddon said, curtly. How long would this last?

"Haddon," Frodo said, curtly, "I know you want to keep your secrets. The Mathom House is desperate to find that gauntlet. It would help us greatly if you told me where you kept it hidden."

"If I told you, you would take the gauntlet away," Haddon said, seriously. He admitted, shrewdly, "That gauntlet is valuable. Why would you take it away?"

"But you know where it is," Frodo said, admitting freely.

"I do, but I'm not telling you that," Haddon said, sharply.

"Haddon, look at me," Frodo said, getting the hobbit prisoner's attention. "I know you mean well, but we need to know where that gauntlet is hidden. If we don't, we could lose it. The gauntlet, I mean!"

"Well, we wouldn't want that!" Haddon said, shrewdly.

"What do you want? That gauntlet means more to you in the world. What does the gauntlet do?" Frodo asked, curiously.

Haddon shrugged. "Why should I tell you that?" He admitted, truthfully, "Alright. The gauntlet doesn't hold anything of value. It's not even magical. It's just a gauntlet that was made out of pure silver. There's no way you will find it." He admitted a moment later, "I locked it away in my house. Why would I bring it out to you? Why would you want it?"

"Because you want your life, and life is precious to us. Isn't it precious to you? Wouldn't you want to spend your life with your family and friends?" Frodo asked the hobbit, curiously. "Look, if it's any consolation, the gauntlet could help the Shire, not hurt it. And I'm sure you don't want to be locked away in here anymore." He added for good measure, "Come on. This is not the life for you. Wouldn't you like to be free?"

Haddon looked at Frodo. He had a point. "All right. I'll show you the gauntlet."

"Good," Frodo said, leading the hobbit out the cell. He smiled at Will Whitfoot, telling him, "See? It's that simple."

"Let's hope you're right," Will said, staring at the freed prisoner in disdain. He hoped this worked. Otherwise, this mission was for naught.

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Thanks for reading. :)


	2. The House on a Hill

Haddon's home sat under the Mathom House. It was in a local neighborhood, where the cliff-face stood out. Haddon sighed, grateful to be home and glad to see his lawn had been mown recently. That was nice, having someone take care of his house, while he was gone. However, he feared no one took care of dusting inside the house.

And he was right! As soon as he opened the door, he found the house dusty and needed a good cleaning. There was the first room, as well as the second room across the hallway. Haddon had to hurry if he wanted Frodo and Will to see he had the gauntlet tucked away somewhere in the house.

The last thing he needed was to ensure that he didn't have the gauntlet when he did. That was something he didn't want to do. He sighed, entering the house and sneezing in the process.

"Okay. Now, where is it?" Haddon said, rummaging through stacks of paper. He felt sure the gauntlet was here! Where else could it be? The last thing he expected was Frodo entering the house, helping him hunt for the gauntlet. How generous of him! This was something he looked forward to every single day. A simple act of kindness!

"Two weeks is a long time for any hobbit to be a prisoner," Frodo said, calmly. "I'm sorry you went through that."

Haddon gulped. "I'm sorry, too. I'm sorry it happened. Ah! Here it is!" He pulled out a silver gauntlet from behind a wooden chest. A symbol of a lion was etched into the metal. He passed the gauntlet to Frodo, admitting to him, "You might as well take it. I have no use for it."

"What does it do?" Frodo asked, staring at the gauntlet, curiously.

"Beats me," Haddon said. "The gauntlet isn't supposed to do anything. It just looks pretty."

"Then I'll take it with great care," Frodo said, heading out of the house. He looked back as Haddon followed him. What did he want now?

"Oh, and if you see Brombard Foxtail, tell him Haddon sent you!" Haddon said with a smirk.

"I will," Frodo said with a smile, heading out the door and towards the Mathom House. He was grateful when Brombard Foxtail took the gauntlet from his hands. The gauntlet sure weighed a couple of pounds, even though it was made out of pure silver.

"We'll take it with great care!" Brombard said, heading inside the Mathom House to store the gauntlet. "And we'll be none the wiser about it, too!"

"Great!" Frodo said with a smile, glad to see his work was done. He turned around, stunned when he heard voices inside the Mathom House. Glass breaking, and then a young hobbit boy darting off with the gauntlet on hand.

No way! It was Sancho Proudfoot! That sneaky little hobbit!

"I'll get the gauntlet back!" Frodo said, catching up to Sancho and taking the gauntlet from his hands.

"Is it valuable?" Sancho asked, the second the hobbit musketeer handed the gauntlet back to Brombard.

"Yes," Frodo said, curtly. "And it isn't for you to steal. It's for everyone, not just you, Sancho."

Sancho shrugged. "I didn't want it. I'll see you later!"

Frodo stared at the young hobbit, confused. Surely Sancho had a reason for wanting the gauntlet. Otherwise, he wouldn't have stolen it from the Mathom House.

"Then why did you steal it?" Frodo asked, hoping his question was answered.

"Well, because a rumor spread about it and I wanted to see it," Sancho said, admitting freely. "Have a good day." He walked away without a care in the world.

"What a strange hobbit," Frodo said, leaving the Mathom House for good today. He hoped that if he came back to the Mathom House another day, then no one would steal the Lion's Gauntlet again. Or so he hoped, for Sancho Proudfoot, once again, stole the Lion's Gauntlet the next day, leaving Frodo to retrieve it from him a second time. Frodo sighed, shaking his head. Silly hobbit!


	3. The Shire, 3018 TA

This is the last chapter for this story. :(

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"So, Sancho really took the gauntlet from the Mathom House?" a hobbit girl asked, curiously.

"More than once. It took till this year to get Sancho to stop stealing the Lion's Gauntlet," Frodo admitted with a laugh. "We never knew how valuable the gauntlet was until Haddon delivered a signed notice, saying the gauntlet was the valuable. It was the best thing the Mathom House had received that day!" He chuckled. "It made Brombard Foxtail very cautious after that."

He paused, telling the kids, "Well, that's it. That's the end of the story. I hope you all learned something today!"

"Did you ever go back to being a musketeer?" the hobbit girl asked, curiously.

Frodo sighed. "I wish I could, but sadly, my days as a musketeer are over. Sancho giving back the gauntlet was my last act before I retired from service. Now, that the One Ring is destroyed, I can go back to doing other things, like taking care of my own children. That is, if I ever have any children." He laughed joyously. "No. Sadly, some dreams never come true."

He stood up, adding, "Well, it's time to take you, kids, home, don't you think?" He looked up at the parents gathered, who kindly took their kids away from him. He waved to the children, enjoying his time spent with them.

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Frodo lived out the rest of his days with stories to tell. Stories of his adventures as a musketeer lived on after he was gone. And that, my friends, is how this story came to an end.

The End.

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Thanks for reading. :)


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